Ariya-puggala: Noble Ones, noble persons: The 8, Ariya = Noble Ones are those who have realized one of the 8 stages of Nobility, i.e. the 4 supra-mundane paths magga and the 4 supra-mundane fruitions phala of these paths. There are thus these 4 pairs:

A1. The one realizing the path of Stream-winning sotāpatti-magga. A2. The one realizing the fruition of Stream-winning sotāpatti-phala.

A3. The one realizing the path of Once-return sakadāgāmi-magga. A4. The one realizing the fruition of Once-return sakadāgāmi-phala.

A5. The one realizing the path of Non-return anāgāmi-magga. A6. The one realizing the fruition of Non-return anāgāmi-phala.

A7. The one realizing the path of Nobility arahatta-magga. A8. The one realizing the fruition of Nobility arahatta-phala.

Summed up, there are 4 noble individuals ariya-puggala:

The Stream-winner Sotapanna, The Once-Returner Sakadagami, The Non-Returner Anagami, The Worthy One Arahant. In A. VIII,10 and A. IX, 16 the gotrabhū is listed as the 9th noble individual.

According to the Abhidhamma, the supra-mundane path, or simply path magga, is a designation of the moment of entering into one of these 4 stages of Nobility with Nibbana being the object, produced by intuitional insight vipassana into the impermanence, misery and impersonality of existence, flashing forth and forever transforming one's life and nature. By fruition phala is meant those moments of consciousness which follow immediately thereafter as the result of the path, and which in certain circumstances may repeat for innumerable times during the life-time.

I: Through the path of Stream-winning sotāpatti-magga one becomes free whereas in realizing the fruition, one is freed from the first 3 mental chains samyojana, which bind beings to existence in the sense-sphere, to wit:

I: After the disappearance of the three mental chains, the Bhikkhu has won the stream to Nibbāna and is no more subject to rebirth in the lower worlds, is firmly established, bound for full enlightenment.

Once-returner:

II: After the disappearance of the three mental chains and the reduction of greed, hatred and confusion, he will return only once more; and having once more returned to this world, he will put an end to suffering.

Non-returner:

III: After the disappearance of the five mental chains he appears in a higher world, and there he reaches Nibbāna without ever returning from that world to the sense-sphere worlds.

Arahant:

IV: Through the ceasing of all mental fermentations āsava-kkhaya he reaches already in this very life the deliverance of mind, the deliverance through understanding, which is free from fermentations, and which he himself has understood and directly realized.

For the various classes of Stream-winners and Non-Returners, see: Sotāpanna, Anāgāmī.

B: The sevenfold grouping of the Noble Disciples is as follows:

1: The faith-devotee saddhānusārī, 2: The faith-liberated one saddhā-vimutta, 3: The body-witness kāya-sakkhī, 4: The both-ways-liberated one ubhato-bhāga-vimutta, 5: The Dhamma-devotee dhammānusārī, 6: The vision-attainer ditthippatta, 7: The one liberated by understanding paññā-vimutta.

This group of seven Noble Disciples is thus explained in Vis.M XXI, 73:

1-2: He who is filled with determination adhimokkha and, in considering the constructions as impermanent anicca, gains the ability of faith, he, at the moment of the path to Stream-winning A1 is called a faith-devotee saddhānusārī; 2: at the seven higher stages A2-A8 he is called a faith-liberated one saddhā-vimutta.

3: He who is filled with tranquillity and, in considering the constructions as miserable dukkha, gains the ability of concentration, he in every respect is considered as a body-witness kāya-sakkhī.

4: He who after reaching the absorptions of the formless sphere has attained the highest fruition of Nobility, he is a both-ways-liberated one ubhato-bhāga-vimutta.

5: He who is filled with understanding and, in considering the constructions as no-self anattā, gains the ability of understanding, he is at the moment of Stream-winning A1 a Dhamma-devotee dhammānusārī,

6: At the later stages A2-A7 a vision-attainer ditthippatta,

7: At the highest stage A8 a understanding-liberated one paññā-vimutta.

Contentedness of the Bhikkhu with any robe, Contentedness with any Alms-food, Contentedness with any dwelling, Delight in meditation and detachment. In the Ariya-vamsa Sutta, A. IV, 28 and similarly in D. 33, it is said :

Now the Bhikkhu is contented with any robe, with any alms-food, with any dwelling, finds pleasure and enjoyment in mental training and detachment. But neither is he haughty on that account, nor does he look down upon others. Now, of a Bhikkhu who herein is fit and indefatigable, who remains aware and clearly comprehending, of such a Bhikkhu it is said that he is firmly established in the ancient lineage of Noble Usage known as the most lofty one.

The authenticity of this passage is unquestionable since it was derived from many important texts of the Tipitaka in the Buddhist canon as well as from amongst the forty methods of Samatha Bhavana – tranquil meditation on Buddhanussati, i.e. Meditation on the virtues of the Buddha.

(a) He has discarded all defilements;(b) He has suppressed all the enemies connected with the eradication of defilements;(c) He destroyed the spokes of the wheel of existence(d) He is worthy of being given offerings and paid homage;

He withheld no secrets in his character or in his teachings.

Buddha was the greatest figure in human life perfect, infallible, blameless and spotless.

At the foot of the Bodhi tree, He conquered all evil and attained the highest stage of sanctity. He put an end to all sufferings with His attainment of Nibbana. He was the World Honoured One so worthy of homage in all respects. His teaching contains no mysteries or secrets and is like an open book for all to come and see.

by Ven. K. Sri Dhammananda

Last edited by Sekha on Fri Apr 30, 2010 9:16 am, edited 1 time in total.

The Buddha was designated as Sammasambuddha because He comprehended the existence of the world in its proper perspective and He discovered the four Noble Truths through His own comprehension. Born a Prince, He renounced the world and strove for six long years seeking enlightenment. During this period, He approached all the renowned Teachers of the day and tried all the methods His Teachers could teach Him. Having achieved the attainment even equivalent to that of His teachers, He still could not find the elusive goal of enlightenment. Finally, basing His research on rational understanding and treading a middle path, thus departing from the traditional way of legendary religious beliefs and practices, He found the final solution to the universal problems of unsatisfactoriness, conflict and disappointments (Dukkha). He discovered the Law of Dependent Origination – the Law of Cause and Effect which He assessed as the reality of the world, thereby becoming the Supreme Enlightened One.

by Ven. K. Sri Dhammananda

Last edited by Sekha on Fri Apr 30, 2010 9:16 am, edited 1 time in total.

This term ‘Vijja-Carana Sampanno’, meant that the Buddha was endowed with perfect clear vision and exemplary good conduct. It has two significant aspects as indicated in the threefold knowledge and eightfold wisdom. The threefold knowledge is listed as follows:-

(a) Firstly, the Buddha could recall His past births and trace back His previous existence as well as that of others.(b) Secondly, apart from being able to recount the past, He had the unique foresight of being able to see into the future and visualized the whole universe at any single moment.(c) Thirdly, He had that deep penetrating knowledge pertaining to Arahanthood.

On the eightfold wisdom, the Buddha was listed as having the unique gift of insight, the power of performing supernormal feats, a divine ear, the power of reading other's thoughts, various physical powers, ability to recollect past births, a divine eye, and exquisite knowledge pertaining to a life of serene holiness.

With regard to the word "Carana" or good conduct, this aspect is divided into fifteen different categories or types of virtues which were fully imbued in the Buddha. These additional virtues are being classified as restraint in deed and word, restraint in the absorption of sense effects, moderation in the consumption of food, avoidance of excessive sleep, maintenance of crystal clear vision in faith, realization of shame in committing evil, realization of fear in committing evil, thirst for knowledge, energy, mindfulness and understanding – the four trends pertaining to the material sphere. Panna and Karuna are reflected as wisdom and compassion, both of which are the basic twin virtues of the Buddha. Panna endowed him with wisdom whilst Karuna bestowed him with compassion to be of service to mankind. He realized through his wisdom what is good and what is not good for all beings and through His compassion He led His followers away from evil and misery. The great virtues of the Buddha enabled Him to shower the highest degree of dispensation to brotherhood and sterling qualities to all beings.

The Buddha was also designated as Sugato which meant that His path is good, the destination is excellent and the words and methods used to show the path are harmless and blameless. The Buddha's path to the attainment of bliss is correct and pure, uncurving, direct and certain.

His words are sublime and infallible. Many welknown historians and great scientists have commented that the only religious teaching which has remained unchallenged by science and free-thinkers is the Buddha-word.

Dukkhanirodha wrote:ArahamThe Buddha is depicted as an Arahant in five aspects, namely :(a) He has discarded all defilements;(b) He has suppressed all the enemies connected with the eradication of defilements;(c) He destroyed the spokes of the wheel of existence(d) He is worthy of being given offerings and paid homage;

Interesting that 'araham' is not listed in Maha Thera Nyanatiloka's Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines, for a pretty important word.

Dukkhanirodha wrote:ArahamThe Buddha is depicted as an Arahant in five aspects, namely :(a) He has discarded all defilements;(b) He has suppressed all the enemies connected with the eradication of defilements;(c) He destroyed the spokes of the wheel of existence(d) He is worthy of being given offerings and paid homage;

Interesting that 'araham' is not listed in Maha Thera Nyanatiloka's Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines, for a pretty important word.

it is probably listed as 'arahat'

the '-ṃ' is certainly an ending due to the declension case, which means it is the same word used in a different grammatical context

The term Lokovidu is applied to the Buddha as the one with exquisite knowledge of the world. The Master had experienced, known and penetrated into all aspects of worldly life physical as well as spiritual. He was the first to make the observation that there were thousands of world systems in the universe. He was the first to declare that the world was nothing but conceptual. In His words, it is regarded pointless to speculate on the origin and the end of the world or universe. He was of the view that the origin of the world, its cessation and the path to the cessation thereof is to be found within the fathom long body-the human being with its perceptions and consciousness.

Anuttaro Purisa-Damma-Sarathi

Anuttaro means matchless and unsurpassed. Purisadamma refers to individuals to whom the gift of the Dhamma is to be endowed whereas Sarathi means a leader. These three terms taken together imply an incomparable leader capable of bringing wayward men to the path of righteousness. Amongst those who were persuaded to follow the path of the Dhamma and to shun evil were notorious murderers like Angulimala, Alawaka and Nalagiri, hundreds of robbers, cannibals and recalcitrants such as Saccake. All of them were brought into the fold of the Dhamma, and some even attained sainthood within their life-time. Even Devadatta, the arch-enemy of the Buddha, was rehabilitated by the Buddha through His great compassion.

The purpose of friendship is to grow mutually, to improve spir- ituality in faith (saddhà), generosity (càga), virtue (sãla), know- ledge and wisdom (paññà). It is the forerunner of goodness in life such as happiness, wealth, opportunity, etc. It is the supporting condition for the growth of all goodness. A real friend is a friend who helps when in need, who shares the same weal and woes with you, who gives good counsel and who sympathizes. An enemy disguised as a friend is one who associates for gain (a taker), who render lips services (a talker), who flatters (a flat- terer) and who brings ruin to your wealth (a spender). The qualities of a good friend are, one who... 1. gives what is hard to give (dàna) 2. does what is hard to do 3. hears what is hard to hear or bear 4. confesses (shares) his, or her, own secret with you 5. keeps others’ secrets 6. in need, forsakes one not 7. despises one not when one is ruined. (from A Pali Word a Day, BuddhaNet pdf)

"As Buddhists, we should aim to develop relationships that are not predominated by grasping and clinging. Our relationships should be characterised by the brahmaviharas of metta (loving kindness), mudita (sympathetic joy), karuna (compassion), and upekkha (equanimity)."~post by Ben, Jul 02, 2009

The translation of this term is that the Buddha was a Teacher of devas and men. It is to be noted that 'devas' as used in this context refers to beings who, by their own good Karma, have evolved beyond the human stage which is not regarded as the final stage of biological evolution. Devas in the Buddhist context have no connection with ancient traditional theological myths. The Buddha was a remarkable Teacher who was flexible and capable of devising diverse techniques suited to the calibre and different mentalities of devas and human beings. He instructed everyone to lead a righteous way of life. The Buddha was indeed a universal Teacher.

Buddho

This particular epithet, Buddho, would appear to be a repetition of the second in this category, although it has its own connotation. Buddho means that the Master, being omniscient, possessed extraordinary powers of being able to convince others of His great discovery through His exquisite art of teaching others His Dhamma. His techniques were unsurpassed by any other Teacher. The term Buddho has its secondary meaning translated as 'Awakened' since the ordinary state of man is perpetually in a state of stupor. The Buddha was the first to be 'awakened' and to shake off this state of stupor. Subsequently He convinced others to be awake and to steer clear from the state of lethargic samsaric sleep or stupor.

Bhagava

Of all the terms used to describe the Buddha, the words ‘Buddho’ and ‘Bhagava’, used separately or together as ‘Buddho Bhagava’ meaning the ‘Blessed One’ are most popular and commonly used.

Deserving awe and veneration, Blessed is His name. Therefore, the word ‘Bhagava’ had various meanings as suggested by some commentators. The Buddha was termed ‘Bhagava’ or the ‘Blessed One’ because He was the happiest and most fortunate amongst mankind for having managed to conquer all evils, for expounding the highest Dhamma and for being endowed with supernormal and superhuman intellectual faculties.

These nine great qualities of the Buddha could serve as a subject for meditation if the various interpretations of each particular term are carefully scrutinized and their real intent and the essence grasped and absorbed. Mere utterance of the passage, without its full comprehension could not be considered effective even as a devotional tract. The best method would be to recite repeatedly and at the same time comprehend the full meaning of these utterances. Whilst so doing, one should also concentrate on these sterling qualities as true noble virtues to be emulated by all followers of the Buddha.